Mental Health

Open, honest dialogue about mental health is so important. These posts offer perspectives often missing from the conversation.

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The Costs of Burdening People with Medical Bills for Involuntary Psychiatric Hospitalization

Years ago, when I was a third-year law student just a few credits away from graduating, I experienced a serious mental health crisis. My psychiatrist at the time involuntarily committed me to a private psychiatric facility in Oakland, California. Because…

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“Left on Read”: Coping with Communication Anxiety

Content note: trauma, abandonment, emotional abuse Fall comes around again, and I’m feeling like an angsty poet. All I need to do is find my Bette Porter to inspire my love poems. Alas, all I have is my Chicano Oldies…

White person with shoulder length brown hair in a gray tshirt and jeans. They're sitting against a wall with their head buried in their lap and hand in front of their face.

Justice Should Not Mean Bringing Up Trauma for People with PTSD

Content notes: rape, violence, systematic injustice I used to call flashbacks time travelling. Partly to make light of the situation – is everything really that bad when you can compare it to a Doctor Who episode? (don’t answer that) – …

A painting of Frida Kahlo who has multicolored flowers in her hair, bright red lipstick, and earrings shaped like hands. She is against a background of bright green leaves.

Frida Kahlo: A Bisexual Disabled Mexican Artist Marginalised in Life but Celebrated in Death

Content note: brief mention of cyber assault and suicide I find myself wondering how Frida Kahlo became such an icon. After all, not everyone can claim they are disabled, bisexual female artists of Mexican descent who attempt to live their…

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Intimacy After Trauma: Navigating Re-Entry Into a Pandemic World

Content note: eating disorders, COVID-19, sexual abuse, sex, trauma How do you let someone love you when you’re afraid of yourself? I first asked myself this at age 17, anorexic and emotionally isolated by the fear of what my body…

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The Harms of Perpetuating “Illness Fakers”

I had not long been a part of the online chronic illness community when I discovered the Illness Fakers page on Reddit. I only saw it because someone I followed was being harassed, and their content being taken apart on…

A Black woman with short curly black hair in a light pink t-shirt, sitting at a desk using a laptop.

Self-Diagnosing: A Response to Inaccessible Healthcare

Disclaimer: this post is not intended as medical advice. Before I got a medical diagnosis for anxiety and depression, I self-diagnosed. There were many things about my mental health that I couldn’t explain. For instance, why would I, as a…

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“We Are Human”: The Harms of Placing Disabled People Under Conservatorship

Content note: institutionalization, mentions of suicidality, self-harm, sexual abuse, forced labor, physical assault On June 23, 2021, Britney Spears petitioned the courts to release her from her father’s guardianship (also called conservatorship), alleging abuse and medical coercion perpetrated by her…

Photo of Tiffany, an Asian woman with dark hair below her shoulders, leaning against a tree. She is wearing a hat and a red top. Her arms are crossed, and she is wearing a splint.

The Cultural Dynamics of Being Asian and Disabled

This year will mark 24 years of my life since becoming disabled. Through my work, my disability origin story is quite public. At the age of 9, I became disabled as a result of a car accident that also took …